Music or no music: what works best for a welcoming office environment?

Does music help or hinder productivity? If you’re trying to work out whether the office radio makes your office better or not, look no further!

As offices become more casual, playing music across the working environment has become the norm. However, office music can be controversial, and hotly contested by workers and managers alike. With various team members to placate, picking the right music can be difficult, but working in silence can also make the office atmosphere too cold. It’s all about balance, and these tips can help to work out what’s right for your business.

Personal taste There can often be clashes of personal taste when it comes to music, and the office environment can quickly descend into musical chaos if a certain style is played. One way to alleviate this is to pick music that’s generic enough that everyone won’t mind, such as a soft classical music playlist, or even some light jazz.

Background noise There’s also the difficulty of keeping music from distracting people. If your team has client calls or meetings that will take place in the office, it might not be a great idea to have music blaring in the background. If you have an open office, consider something soothing and played low enough that talking can go on uninterrupted, or make sure that there are designated call or meeting areas away from the office music.

Sharing is caring Having music in the office can actually be a great way to get the whole team involved in getting to know one another. Why not ask everyone to contribute an office-friendly song of their taste to a shared playlist, that can be added to every week? You don’t have to play this all the time – perhaps this can be a Friday treat. Get everyone talking and learning more about each other by encouraging a discussion about music, and maybe it can work as a great conduit for team building.

Designed to destress Having a stressful job can take a toll, and when there’s high pressure, sometimes music can help take the edge off. Soothing neutral music fading into the background is a simple way of keeping everyone’s tensions low and happiness levels high.

A welcoming atmosphere It’s not only your current workers that could benefit from having music playing in the office. New hires will instantly feel more comfortable in a workspace that isn’t kept in complete silence.

Having a totally quiet workspace can lead to colleagues keeping their distance, so warm up the atmosphere for new and old co-workers alike with a bit of music.